Our strategy
Our vision, purpose and strategy as a world-leader in composites.
Richard Oldfield, CEO
"We are industry's research and development partner. When companies need to make things lighter, stronger, smarter and more sustainable they come to the NCC. With access to 'beyond' state-of-the-art technology and the best composites engineering capabilities in the world, we help our customers solve the most complex engineering challenges of our time."
Our Story
The National Composites Centre was created as the UK’s Centre of Excellence for Composites Research and Development following the inclusion of this disruptive technology into government industrial strategy. Our task: to be recognised as a world leader in composite technology, accelerating the development and uptake of digital technologies for sustainable composites and growing the market for composites by driving innovation through collaboration and partnerships.
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Why choose composites?
Lightweight, strong, durable and adaptable, the unique properties of composites help us to design and make better products with less waste that last longer.
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Meet the team
The NCC leadership team has extensive engineering and commercial experience across industry sectors.
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Membership at the NCC
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Academic reach
The NCC works proactively with universities across the UK and overseas in a number of ways to pull through fundamental research to industrial applications.
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Cross-Catapult programmes
We work closely with partners across the High Value Manufacturing Catapult and wider UK Catapult Network on collaborative projects.
Our networks
High Value Manufacturing Catapult
The NCC is proud to be one of seven centres that makes up the High Value Manufacturing Catapult, which is itself one of nine Catapults created as a key tool in Innovate UK’s range of innovation support for businesses. Each Catapult is focused on an area in which the UK has the potential to grow in strategically important global markets.
Composites Leadership Forum
The National Composites Centre is a pivotal member of the UK’s Composite Leadership Forum which works to influence the Government and other bodies to bring together support for composites and ensure growth and industrial success for the UK. It is chaired and led by industry.
Composites UK Trade Association
The NCC also is a board member of Composites UK Trade Association, fully supporting its mission to encourage continuous growth and development of the industry, promoting the best practice use of composites materials. We work closely to bring companies throughout the composites supply chain together, creating a unified voice to drive the industry forward to the benefit all of those involved.
Our Members
Our latest news
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Cristex Composite Materials join NCC’s SME Affiliate Scheme
09 May 2022The NCC is delighted to welcome Cristex Composite Materials - one of the UK’s premier suppliers of High-Performance Fibres and Fabrics for the UK Composites and Reinforced Plastics Markets – to its SME Affiliate Scheme. -
Optimising the design of a composite hydrogen pressure vessel
05 May 2022The NCC is advancing the knowledge required to establish a dynamic UK supply chain, investing in hydrogen pressure vessel research and development to seed manufacture in the UK, progressing the technology to help it to remain competitive in the future. -
New digital design trial on a composite hydrogen pressure vessel five times faster
05 May 2022The NCC has successfully completed a proof-of-concept project that demonstrates the transformative impact of digital tools on the design process for the complex engineering industry. The application of Multi-Disciplinary Optimisation (MDO) techniques to a composite hydrogen pressure vessel has resulted in identifying an optimum design five times faster than a traditional, sequential approach. -
Viable routes to recycling wind turbine blades found in NCC’s sustainable wind research programme
04 May 2022The NCC, in partnership with the Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) Catapult, launched the SusWIND programme to drive the future sustainability of composite wind turbine components. In its first annual review, the NCC has published the key findings of the programme and sets out ambitious plans to tackle the main challenges of legacy and future blades. -
UK team successfully recycles reclaimed continuous carbon fibres from composite pressure tanks
03 May 2022NCC engineers, along with British SME partners B&M Longworth Ltd and Cygnet Texkimp, have successfully reclaimed continuous carbon fibres from a whole pressure vessel and re-used them to manufacture a new pressure vessel. This is the first time this process has been achieved in the UK and represents a significant milestone in the development of Britain’s hydrogen capability.
